Amrit Sandhar is the CEO and Founder of employee engagement firm &Evolve. He previously headed up employee engagement for Asda and worked as a Senior Consultant and Head of Growth at Best Companies (the name behind The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work for).
In this article, Amrit writes how employee engagement can be improved in small businesses:
Before we consider what small businesses can do to improve employee engagement, it’s worth explaining what we mean by this, and what we are trying to achieve. Whilst there happens to be no standard definition, there is a broad agreement that it’s looking to improve the enthusiasm, dedication, and commitment employees feel towards their work.
Russell through his work into the Taxonomy of Work-related wellbeing, defines the engaged state as one of high activation (being energised), and being in a pleasant state. So, small businesses should consider how to energise employees at work, and how to create pleasant environments for them to work in.
Creating an engaging environment
When it comes to creating a pleasant environment, there are many steps small businesses can take. The first is having clear values or principles as an organisation. This might be seen as something only large organisations undertake, but every business needs to define its culture.
This is why the ‘Mission, Vision and Values’ module in the Help to Grow: Management Course is helpful, because when you define your organisation's values you are also clarifying the behaviours expected across your business.
Once your culture has been determined, it’s critical to ensure everyone knows about the values (and the behaviours that support them). This clarity over how staff work together will allow those who share the same values, to want to join your organisation, and feel more comfortable working in an environment which they can relate to.
Energising and finding employees
The other aspect of being in an engaged state is being energised at work, which in part is the responsibility of the employee – looking after their own wellbeing, to be work ready. However, there are ways small businesses can impact how energised employees feel at work, through greater clarity of roles and expectations.
Small businesses don’t have the luxury of being able to recruit huge teams – often individuals recruited for one role, inevitably end up multi-tasking. While this flexibility can be a great advantage, it does raise the possibility of causing confusion over expectations and ways of measuring success.
When recruiting, it’s important to take time out to create a clear and realistic job description of what you are expecting from the role. This clarity will ensure you attract people who like what they read and therefore come into the role with clear expectations, allowing them to be engaged and committed.
Providing compelling benefits
Although small businesses cannot compete with larger organisations in terms of salaries, there are other ways to create a more energised and pleasant environment through benefits and flexibility.
Many large organisations are still struggling to decide whether remote or hybrid working practices are suitable for them. Faced with the demand to return to the workplace, employees who feel they are more productive at home are responding by looking for roles that can accommodate more flexible working arrangements. Small businesses can use to this their advantage. In fact, they may attract talented people that they would otherwise not have been able to afford.
Other benefits that can attract talent include: a shorter working week, offering private healthcare, increased pension contributions, and investing in their personal development, which will likely engage and motivate employees, whilst costing businesses far less than paying larger salaries.
Understanding whether a benefit is suited to your business requires a plan and consultation with your workforce. Assuming you already have a great team of people you want to motivate and retain, it's important that you understand what type of benefits appeal.
Implementing benefits can be managed through a tool like the Growth Action Plan which I worked through in the Help to Grow: Management Course. In addition, you can bounce ideas off your peer network and mentor on the course to make sure that the benefits are a success.
Finally, whilst the focus is often on employee engagement - the levels of dedication, commitment and enthusiasm employees are showing to their work, it’s worth considering employer engagement – how much dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm are you, the employer, giving to your employees. When organisations demonstrate dedication to employees with authenticity, care, and compassion, they are naturally more likely to create more engaged workplaces, no matter what size they are.
You can find out more about the Help to Grow: Management Course and the insights it gives small businesses here.
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